Russell Andrews
Midas
Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.
It’s good to be king
And have your own world
It helps to make friends
It’s good to meet girls
PROLOGUE
1
Environmental Surprise From
The Anderson Administration
Led by Vice President Dandridge
A New Direction in Land Preservation
In a move equally surprising to both foes and supporters, Stephanie Ingles, the Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, announced yesterday that over eight million acres in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve have been designated as a national monument and have thus become permanently off-limits to oil companies that have been pressing the administration to let them begin drilling in the region.
The National Petroleum Reserve is not a name that conjurs a vision of pristine space but it is, in fact, the largest expanse of untouched wilderness left in the United States. In 1923, President Harding established the region as a petroleum reserve, stipulating that the oil fields be drilled only in time of pressing national need. Large and influential oil and energy companies such as EGenco and Halliburton have recently been lobbying the administration to open the fields for exploration, saying that if ever there was a national need the time is now. President Thomas Anderson has, in the past, been sympathetic to the needs of such companies, as has Vice President Phillip Dandridge, and environmentalists had been expecting Ms. Ingles to announce that the administration had bowed to the pressure. However, despite the recent rise in oil prices-yesterday’s closing left the price of oil at $44.78 per barrel-Ms. Ingles said that the President was standing firm on this issue. “Despite what is perceived as this administration’s close ties to the oil industry,” Ms. Ingles stated, “Vice President Dandridge is a committed environmentalist. He is well aware of the wildlife that swims in and roams around the Colville River Watershed, Kasegaluk Lagoon, Teshekpuk Lake and the Utukok Highlands, and he has no intention of allowing the ecological balance within those areas to be disturbed. The Vice President took the lead in this initiative and the President wholeheartedly concurs with the stand that’s being taken.”
Members of the President and Vice President’s party did not offer unanimous support after the announcement. Speaker of the House Lester Swannig said that he was “withholding any final judgment on this decision, but I am dismayed at the potential rise in oil prices it may cause. We have been trying to keep the cost of gasoline down since it affects every American citizen. Shutting off this acreage from drilling will certainly not help that effort and I have to say I don’t understand this shift in priorities.”
Environmentalists warily applauded the decision. Christine Herr, co-chairperson of the Save the Earth Foundation, said, “I am pleased by the decision although I admit it did rather shock me. Over the past seven years, environmental protection has taken a backseat to just about everything else one could name. However, as everyone knows, Vice President Dandridge is beginning his push to achieve his party’s presidential nomination next year and I imagine his advisers are telling him he needs to make some concessions to ‘kooks’ like us. But even if this decision was made for political reasons, it’s a decision I’m glad this administration had the courage to make.”
Vice President Dandridge is the presumed presidential nominee for his party in next November’s election. Heading into primary season, he has a substantial lead in the polls in nearly every state, with very few opponents within the Republican Party. The Vice President does, however, currently trail both of the men competing for the Democratic nomination, Indiana Senator Martin Vance and Georgia Governor Oren Childress. All of his potential Democratic opponents supported this decision on the National Petroleum Reserve and voiced their hopes that in the last year of President Anderson’s final term he will take even more of a lead in protecting the environment.
2
Energy Prices
PETROLEUM ($/bbl) PRICE* CHANGE % CHANGE TIME Nymex Crude 48.1 0.4 0.96 13:51 IPE Crude 43.4 0.5 1.32 14:12 Dated Brent $ 44.55 0.37 0.95 13:59 WTI Cushing $ 48.05 0.45 1.08 14:08 PETROLEUM (?/gal) PRICE* CHANGE % CHANGE TIME Nymex Heating Oil 2.12 1.85 1.76 13:53 Nymex Gasoline 147.3 0.27 0.19 13:52
3
Bashar Shabaan had seen death before. Seen it up close.
The first time, he had been sitting in a car in Basra, minding his own business. Bashar was just slouched in the front seat, behind the wheel, waiting. He wasn’t waiting for anyone or anything. He was just waiting. It was during the first Gulf War.
In front of him was a truck. It looked like it was going to fall apart, like it couldn’t drive one more mile. There was a family inside, a mother and a father and some children, two teenaged boys. An American army jeep pulled up alongside and then the broken-down truck started to drive away. One of the boys rolled down a window, put his
